Paul Merriman on Managing $1.6 Billion But Never His Own Money

Paul Merriman on Managing $1.6 Billion But Never His Own Money

From Sound Investing by Paul Merriman

April 1, 2026 · 53 min

About this episode

Paul Merriman discusses his unique approach to managing money for others while never managing his own, along with his views on financial security and retirement.

At 82 years old, I still work. Not because I have to, but because I want to. I joined Brian Herriot and Kirby Denison on “The Time Freedom Podcast” to talk about exactly that. But we ended up covering a lot more than I expected. Here's something that might surprise you: I managed money for thousands of people over 30 years and built a firm to $1.6 billion under management. And I have never once managed my own money. Why? Because I know myself too well. When the market drops, I would second-guess everything. I'd probably hesitate to put more money in, even though that's exactly what I teach people to do. So I let someone else handle it. I don't even check how I did last year. We also got into my disagreement with John Bogle. I had the privilege of sitting with him for about 90 minutes earlier in my career. Bogle preached Enough and it's even the title of one of his books. I respectfully disagree. I believe the goal should be more than enough. Because life gets in the way. Bad things happen. And they often happen during retirement, when you have the least ability to recover. If you stop working the moment you have just enough, you're one bad year away from trouble. 📚🎧 Brian's…

People in this episode

Hosts: Paul Merriman, PAUL

Guests: Brian Herriot, Kirby Denison

Topics covered

  • money management
  • investing philosophy
  • retirement planning

Keywords

  • John Bogle
  • Enough
  • Time Freedom

Mentioned in this episode

Products: Time Freedom

Books & works: The Time Freedom Podcast, Time Freedom

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